Experiencing the "Soul" of Seoul

Today, we had a scheduled program field trip around the city to four major attractions:  Namsangol Hanok Village, Gwanghwamun Square, the Blue House, and the N Seoul Tower.  We departed the university around 3:15 p.m. and just recently returned around 11:00 p.m.  The trip was slightly disappointing in a sense because we were travelling in a group of about 150 people - many of which are slow walkers, dawdlers, and obviously afflicted with ADD.  Walking was a nightmare, as we'd have to continuously stop and wait for people to catch up. We spent a lot of time waiting for people, which was pretty frustrating.  Nonetheless, the places we visited were absolutely awesome in every sense!

ONU Polar Bears in Gwanghwamun Square

Gwanghwamun features a wide array of royal Korean palaces that "follow Confucian ideals of frugality and simplicity" (38).  This area of the city is also home to the Blue House - the president's house:

The Blue House, home to the President

We couldn't get very close today because the president was in residence.  According to some of our guides, if we wanted to tour the Blue House, we would have had to pay an extraordinary fee in addition to requesting a tour months in advance and having all of our passports identified and approved.  

After Gwanghwamun, we ventured to the Namsangol Hanok Village, an area of traditional Korean houses, called hanok.  "Five differing yangban stone, wood, and tile houses from the Joseon era have been moved here from different parts of Seoul," the Seoul City Guide states (55).  This village is tranquil and quietly maintains an age-old atmosphere; it is filled with little ponds, benches, and winding paths through many different kinds of flowers and plants.

Namsangol Hanok Village

While we were certainly learning and appreciating Korean history, we also had a little fun, too.

My warrior face

After the Namsangol Hanok Village, we traveled to our final location - the N Seoul Tower - a destination "as iconic as kimchi" (55).  From this mountaintop location, viewers can see the city stretch outward in all directions into the humid haze.  The views are breathtaking and fundamentally romantic, which mark the N Seoul Tower as a sweetheart destination.  

N Seoul Tower

Thousands (if not millions!) of locks scrawled with romantic sayings and names of couples cover the gates surrounding the viewing platform.  Couples attach a lock to the masses of locks on the gates and throw away the key, symbolizing faithfulness and "true love."

The love locks at N Seoul Tower